Not a ton, once in a while, I see drops of milk on my nipples and I'm always like "what the hell is that? Oh..." My boobs do still hurt when Silas does that certain tone of cry or if I hear really upset newborns though! Crazy stuff.

Apparently Henry is weaning? Today has been day two of no nursing, just because we've been busy and he hasn't asked to (except at 4 am today, which I told him was a no go). I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it, it's been a rocky relationship but I'm sad to see it end. I'm also not looking forward to our next bit of down time when he starts signing milkmilkmkmilk, pleasepleaseplease! and I have to say no.

that's exciting bap! How old is Henry again? Sierra very rarely wants to nurse during the day but all night long. I want to stop but at the same time I've really enjoyed having this magical elixir when it comes to her, ya know? like I'm worried I'll stop and then we'll be somewhere where she decides to completely lose her shiitake and I won't have this magic cure!

but at the same time I've really enjoyed having this magical elixir when it comes to her, ya know? like I'm worried I'll stop and then we'll be somewhere where she decides to completely lose her shiitake and I won't have this magic cure!

Ha, we're a long way from weaning and that's cool, but I'm already worried about that too!

that's exciting bap! How old is Henry again? Sierra very rarely wants to nurse during the day but all night long. I want to stop but at the same time I've really enjoyed having this magical elixir when it comes to her, ya know? like I'm worried I'll stop and then we'll be somewhere where she decides to completely lose her shiitake and I won't have this magic cure!

He's fifteen months, and today is day #3! I used to be worried about that, but honestly lately, he's been getting up at like 4 asking to nurse, I oblige, and rather than go back to sleep, he nurses for an hour and then just wants to party anyway. So it's no longer the elixir it once was for us. I was a little conflicted this morning, he got into our bed, signed milk, and while I was going back and forth in my head on what to do, he crawled away and didn't ask again. So that was that! I'm sad, but at the same time relieved because he's been lazy latching recently and I won't miss the teeth marks. Also, oy are my boobs sore!

Sierra very rarely wants to nurse during the day but all night long. I want to stop but at the same time I've really enjoyed having this magical elixir when it comes to her, ya know? like I'm worried I'll stop and then we'll be somewhere where she decides to completely lose her shiitake and I won't have this magic cure!

Ha ha ha. That's about where I'm at too.

The Magician wants to nurse any time he sees me, until whenever I have to leave again. He seriously did not detach from my boob for more than like 60 seconds from 8:30 pm the other night until 5 a.m. the next morning. Awesome. NOT.

He's refusing bottles when I'm not there. Which says to me... dude doesn't really need the milk. He just likes the nursing. Which is fine, I get it, it's a special thing between us and something that he's always had with me and blah blah, but really guy? I'd like to spend some time with you doing something else occasionally.

I don't know if I'm ready to start actively weaning him but if he doesn't chill out on his own soon, I guess I will have to, because I can't maintain this.

Yes, Leela spends all day every day divebombing me. If she is tired, if she is bored, if I sit still, if I am holding something else (makes grocery shopping so fun), if she has to go into the car seat, if we're leaving the playground... Basically I almost always have a hand on my boob, if I don't have a face on it.

So exciting that Henry is already ready!

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

I hope you're not uncomfortable for long, bab. I think you are lucky that he's taking a lead in the process. I'm wondering when babynut will move on. She gets so excited to nurse, it makes me worried we will be nursing forever.

that's exciting bap! How old is Henry again? Sierra very rarely wants to nurse during the day but all night long. I want to stop but at the same time I've really enjoyed having this magical elixir when it comes to her, ya know? like I'm worried I'll stop and then we'll be somewhere where she decides to completely lose her shiitake and I won't have this magic cure!

He's fifteen months, and today is day #3! I used to be worried about that, but honestly lately, he's been getting up at like 4 asking to nurse, I oblige, and rather than go back to sleep, he nurses for an hour and then just wants to party anyway. So it's no longer the elixir it once was for us. I was a little conflicted this morning, he got into our bed, signed milk, and while I was going back and forth in my head on what to do, he crawled away and didn't ask again. So that was that! I'm sad, but at the same time relieved because he's been lazy latching recently and I won't miss the teeth marks. Also, oy are my boobs sore!

Ugh, the lazy latching teeth marks! Carlos pretty much seems to be done, but when he does manage to nurse now, it is painful. Not the worst pain, but it hurts and yeah, teeth marks. He's barely trying to open his mouth. Why?!

I wish I knew kimba! It was super uncomfortable! So he hasn't nursed since last Tuesday, I think? He's asked a couple of times, pretty much only when he's close to my boobs, otherwise it seems like he's been too busy to notice. The engorged feeling is settling down and now I'm left with a sore spot that I've been trying to massage out in the shower. I'm still sad about it, especially when we were in Boston yesterday and it seemed like there were nursing mamas everywhere, but I think it was the right decision for us and so far so good.

You guys, I think it's finally happening. The day I thought would never come. poopieboy started occasionally going down for naps and even sometimes for bed without boob last week, and now most days I can distract him when he asks for boob first thing in the morning, too. We haven't gone an entire day without nursing yet, but we've definitely gone days where it's just once or twice, and it's getting shorter and shorter each time, too (I mean, sometimes he latches for like 10 seconds and then is done).

I thought I would be sad and nostalgic and shiitake, but I AM SO READY to be done. Pretty sure I will jump for joy and not a tear will be shed once I know for sure we're finished. And I'm really proud of myself because even though it's been rough at times, I've stuck it out for 37 months now, and reached my goal of nursing until he weans himself, which for a while there seemed like it would be exactly never.

Thank you so much you guys! I definitely couldn't have made it this long without the support of the PPK <3

Also, I just re-read my last post, and while I'm sure everyone here knows what I meant, I want to clarify that I didn't mean anyone shouldn't be proud of anything other than letting their kid self-wean, because obviously not everyone has the luxury of being a stay-at-home-mum like me, and situations are different, and sometimes nursing sucks, and... you know. I'm proud for reaching the goal I set for myself, but I just don't want anyone to think that I hold that as the "ideal" or anything stupid like that. I might just be paranoid and no one would think that, but I figured I'd put it out there anyway.

Sorry if none of that made sense, but I'm a little tipsy from my celebratory drink, after going the whole day without nursing once! First time ever! I KNOW.

We're about to hit a month of no nursing. I seriously never thought this day would come. Ezra said one day (granted, he was having a very independent toddler moment) "You know mama, I don't think I want big milk and little milk anymore." And I held him to that, buddy! We've had a few fussy moments, but for the most part all good!

My plan is to nurse guineapiglet until she's around 3 but my concern is that we always nurse to sleep. I love that her nighttime routine revolves around mommy time and I'll likely continue to nurse her to sleep for at least another 6 months or so before trying something else but I wonder what those who have nursed toddlers do to put their kids to sleep? She has a nightly routine (potty, brush teeth, bath, massage, book, bed) that works really well for us already. Frankly, I'm scared to rock the boat but I know one say I eventually will have to and I want to have a game plan for when that happens.

I am interested in this, as well -- I nursed Raygold to sleep until he randomly decided he didn't want to nurse anymore. For a few months, he fell asleep on his own quite well, then he started fighting sleep and it takes ages for us, unless he is really exhausted -- one of us has to sit with the boys until Raygold is asleep or else they both end up out of bed and running around. Beetroot will get in bed and just silently look around and will usually stay in bed after we leave, but once a week or so, after we leave, he will come and tell us he wants to 'sleep with a friend' (so cute). Once a fortnight, we hear him sneaking out of the bedroom and running about the house to play on the sly.

GP, I nursed my first until he was a few months shy of three. I stopped nursing him to sleep, and if you already have a routine (especially an awesome one like yours!) that will definitely help. Even though GPlet wouldn't have the nursing part, there is still plenty of the routine.

For us, we talked about how milk at bedtime was going away soon. We talked about it for a few days in advance, and then when the time came, we just snuggled instead. It wasn't cold turkey, of course. Sick days/sad days sometimes meant an extra nursing session at bedtime instead of skipping that one. It worked well though, just took a little while. It seems like it's gotta be easier night-weaning at three when there is more vocabulary/language rather than at a younger age. Anyway, so our routine was something like diaper/potty (can't remember), brush teeth, pajamas, book, and snuggle/good nights. Then lights out.

TheCrabbyCrafter wrote:

Beetroot will get in bed and just silently look around and will usually stay in bed after we leave, but once a week or so, after we leave, he will come and tell us he wants to 'sleep with a friend' (so cute). Once a fortnight, we hear him sneaking out of the bedroom and running about the house to play on the sly.

Iz does that too. Sometimes he REALLY wants to sleep with someone else, so if my partner and I are still up, he'll sneak out of his room (he thinks he's very stealthy!), and crawl into our bed to sleep with Z. When he sneaks out to play though, he usually does that in the morning.

_________________when you realise how perfect everything is, you will tilt you head back and laugh at the sky. -buddha

Thank you so much Bodhi! That is super helpful and seems like a really gentle, easy way to transition. Reading your post just made me feel really calm about it. When the time comes I think I'm going to do exactly what you did and set my expectations that it's a transition process, it's not all going to happen overnight and just go with flow. Thanks again!

GP, I'm a bit late chiming in, but I've pretty much just got poopieboy off the boob right before bedtime (he turned 3 last month). He used to nurse last thing before bed, so one thing we found helpful was moving nursing to earlier in the routine, so he didn't associate it as strongly with bedtime. For instance, we used to do a book, then I would sing him a song and nurse him right before laying him down. Then I transitioned to nursing, then book, then song. It made it a lot easier to cut out the nursing when the bit of his routine immediately before going to bed stayed familiar.